Many businesses have dedicated communications systems that enable computers, servers, printers, facsimile machines and the like to communicate with each other, through a private network, and with remote locations via a telecommunications service provider. Such communications system may be hard wired through, for example, the walls and/or ceilings of the building that houses the business using communications cables that typically contain eight conductive wires. Conventionally, the eight conductive wires are arranged as four differential twisted pairs of conductors that may be used to transmit four separate differential signals. In such hard wired systems, individual connector ports such as RJ-45 style modular wall jacks (also referred to as telecommunications outlets) are mounted in offices throughout the building. The communications cables electrically connect each connector port to network equipment (e.g., network servers, switches, etc.) that may be located, for example, in a computer room. Communications cables from external telecommunication service providers may also terminate within the computer room.
The communication cables may be connected to the network equipment through a communications patching system. Typically, a communications patching system includes a plurality of “patch panels” that are mounted on one or more equipment racks. As is known to those of skill in the art, a “patch panel” refers to an inter-connection device that includes a plurality of connector ports such as, for example, RJ-45 style communications jacks, on a front side thereof. Each connector port (e.g., a jack) is configured to receive a first communications cable that is terminated with a mating connector (e.g., a plug). Typically, a second communications cable is terminated into the reverse side of each connector port by terminating the eight conductive wires of the cable into corresponding insulation displacement contacts of the connector port. Each connector port on the patch panel may provide communications paths between a communications cable that is plugged into the front side of the connector port and a respective one of the communications cables that is terminated into the reverse side of the connector port. The communications patching system may optionally include a variety of additional equipment such as rack managers, system managers and other devices that facilitate making and/or tracking interconnections between networked devices.
FIG. 1 is a simplified example of one way in which a communications patching system may be used to connect a computer (or other device) 26 located in an office 4 of a building to network equipment 52, 54 located in a computer room 2 of the building. As shown in FIG. 1, the computer 26 is connected by a patch cord 28 to a modular wall jack 22 that is mounted in a wall plate 24 in office 4. A communications cable 20 is routed from the back end of the modular wall jack 22 through, for example, the walls and/or ceiling of the building, to the computer room 2. As there may be hundreds or thousands of wall jacks 22 within an office building, a large number of cables 20 are routed into the computer room 2.
A first equipment rack 10 is provided within the computer room 2. A plurality of patch panels 12 are mounted on the first equipment rack 10. Each patch panel 12 includes a plurality of connector ports 16. In FIG. 1, each connector port 16 comprises a modular RJ-45 jack that is configured to receive a modular RJ-45 plug connector. However, it will be appreciated that other types of patch panels may be used such as, for example, patch panels with RJ-11 style connector ports 16.
As shown in FIG. 1, each communications cable 20 that provides connectivity between the computer room 2 and the various offices 4 in the building is terminated onto the back end of one of the connector ports 16 of one of the patch panels 12. A second equipment rack 30 is also provided in the computer room 2. A plurality of patch panels 12′ that include connector ports 16′ are mounted on the second equipment rack 30. A first set of patch cords 40 (only two exemplary patch cords 40 are illustrated in FIG. 1) are used to interconnect the connector ports 16 on the patch panels 12 to respective ones of the connector ports 16′ on the patch panels 12′. The first and second equipment racks 10, 30 may be located in close proximity to each other (e.g., side-by-side) to simplify the routing of the patch cords 40. In the simplified example of FIG. 1, the communication patching system comprises the patch panels 12, 12′ and the patch cords 40.
As is further shown in FIG. 1, network equipment such as, for example, one or more switches 52 and network routers and/or servers 54 (“network devices”) are mounted on a third equipment rack 50. Each of the switches 52 may include a plurality of connector ports 53. A second set of patch cords 60 connect the connector ports 53 on the switches 52 to the back end of respective ones of the connector ports 16′ on the patch panels 12′. As is also shown in FIG. 1, a third set of patch cords 64 may be used to interconnect other of the connector ports 53 on the switches 52 with connector ports 55 provided on the network devices 54. In order to simplify FIG. 1, only a single patch cord 60 and a single patch cord 64 are shown. One or more external communications lines 66 may be connected to, for example, one or more of the network devices 54 (either directly or through a patch panel).
The communications patching system of FIG. 1 may be used to connect each computer, printer, facsimile machine, internet telephone and the like 26 located throughout the building to the network switches 52, the switches 52 to network routers 54, and the network routers 54 to external communications lines 66, thereby establishing the physical connectivity required to give devices 26 access to both local and wide area networks. In the communications patching system of FIG. 1, connectivity changes are typically made by rearranging the patch cords 40 that interconnect the connector ports 16 on the patch panels 12 with respective of the connector ports 16′ on the patch panels 12′.
Power over Ethernet (PoE) is used to provide power to devices connected to a network via network cabling (also referred to as endpoint devices). Examples of remotely powered network devices may include, for example, voice over IP telecommunications equipment, wireless Local Area Network (LAN) access points, network cameras, among others. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an endspan system for providing PoE in accordance with conventional methods. An endspan PoE network switch 52 is communicatively coupled to a network patch panel 12. The endspan PoE network switch 52 is configured to provide data communications and/or power via PoE devices that are connected directly or indirectly (e.g., through additional cabling, connectors, patch panels and/or patch cords) to the network patch panel 12. A variety of remotely powered network devices may be connected to the network patch panel 12 including, for example, an IP telephone 70, a wireless LAN access point 72, and/or a network camera 74, among others.
Many organizations are beginning to utilize energy management techniques to control energy costs associated with communications networks and devices connected to and powered via communications networks. For example, energy management techniques are being utilized to set predefined, per-port power allocation; identify ports where power is not being used; reallocate power; and provide power prioritization. The Cisco® EnergyWise® energy management system is a conventional energy management system in use that measures power usage on a network. The Cisco® EnergyWise® system focuses on reducing power utilization on devices connected to a network ranging from PoE devices such as IP phones and wireless access points to IP-enabled building and lighting controllers, and allows optimization and control of power across an entire corporate infrastructure, potentially affecting any powered device.
Conventional energy management systems typically are based on dividing building space into domains (e.g., zones, areas, etc.), and applying generic energy management policies (EMPs) to devices located within these domains. These generic EMPs are entered manually into switches or devices during a network configuration process. However, when changes occur within a domain (i.e., movement of a device to another domain, etc.), manual reconfiguration may be required. For example if a phone, that was previously used by a help desk organization, is moved to another domain (e.g., an office area), an EMP that had been applied previously to this phone may have to be changed to reflect the phone's new usage. Similarly, re-configuration may be required for a network switch port in the case where its connecting circuit has changed.
Conventional energy management systems also typically require someone to track changes made to EMPs. As such, there are many tasks in conventional energy management systems that are dependent on manual activities, and that make these systems susceptible to human error which, in turn, may lead to incorrect EMP implementation.